Title: Mastered: On His Terms
Author: Sierra Cartwright
Publisher/Year: Totally Bound Publishing 4/22/13
Length: 167 pages
Series: Mastered #2
Overview
It was business only… Chelsea Barton is terrible at the whole submission thing, and she wants to snare the Dom of her dreams. She seeks out the renowned trainer Master Alexander. Alex has his hands full with Chelsea, especially when he realises he doesn’t want to turn her over to another man…
Damn, damn, and double damn. This was so not supposed to happen.
Chelsea Barton always gets what she wants, and she wants the up and coming rocker Evan C to accept her as his sub. But her performance always disappoints him.
Determined to have her way, she begs Master Alexander Monahan to train her.
Alex has given up training submissives, and no matter what, he would not work with someone as bold, headstrong, and stubborn as Chelsea.
But there’s something about her that intrigues and impresses him, an enthusiasm that is missing from his too-dull life. Under very strict guidelines he agrees. She has to try her best. She has to submit uncomplainingly to his punishments. And there’s a two week obligation, after which they will part ways. Being a trainer is a very different relationship than a D/s, and despite his intentions to remain aloof, he starts to care deeply for the headstrong Chelsea.
Chelsea unhesitatingly agrees to Master Alexander’s rules, after all, he’s going to give her the skills she needs to get what she wants. But, damn it, the longer she trains with him, the more she is attracted to his rugged good look as well as to his firm, but relentless ways. She reminds herself of her goals, but that becomes more difficult every day.
For Alex, falling for a sub who will belong to another man was never part of the deal.
My Thoughts
As much as i love Sierra and what she’s written that i’ve read, i have to say that this one took me a little bit to get through. The idea behind the story line is a good one, the characters seem to have the depth and dynamic that would make for a GREAT read, but it took me much longer to get through this 2nd installment than it should and i’m not sure why.
While this 2nd installment gives us a female lead that’s already familiar somewhat with the BDSM lifestyle, she’s really not in it for the right reasons – meaning that she’s after the attention of one man, who won’t give her the time of day. It’s because of this that we get to see our leading duo grown and blossom. Chelsea reaches out to Master Alexander in the hopes that he’ll train her and make her into the kind of sub that Evan C will be interested in, and this is the tale of how Master Alex works to break her.
The scening here is great – we get a different perspective on all things sub training related. The means that Alex goes to in order to make Chelsea realize what the lifestyle is all about, and maybe that’s what’s so off putting to me. His style isn’t necessarily what i’d warm up to and even in other series that we’ve seen a sub trainer in, his approach is a bit more rough so to speak.
The other piece that throws me is that i think that Chelsea could be a great lead – she’s got a successful business to fall back on, she’s really not reliant on a man to make her happy – she’s just crushing on one, yet the seriousness or lack there of that she gives the lifestyle is what makes it a bit painful for me to read.
The redeeming quality here though is that even though the mid-section of this shorter installment sagged and dragged a bit, we didn’t go more than a few pages without something hot and naughty. that’s something that Ms Cartwright surely knows how to do well. The nature of these scenes is hot – we get a lot of pain and bondage together, and a lot of manners training which of course makes for a great denied experience. I admit that i did skim from time to time just to get to those scenes since they managed to resonate well for me.
So all that being said, i’m still invested in this series and i’m going in for book 3 now, in the hopes that we’ll get picked up again into the heat and passion with these D/s relationships. Hopefully you won’t take my lack of love for this book to mean that it’s not worth it – i’m sure it works for some folks….so with that – Happy New Year and try to enjoy!